Welcome to the Inglenook at Cold Spring School Library...a cozy place by the fire to discuss children's literature and the wonder of reading and learning.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

News From the Library--November 20

What happens when the state of Kansas is bored? Miss Fargas’ third graders this week found out in Laurie Heller’s hilarious book, The Scrambled States of America. In the story, all the states decide to switch places and have a party, but in the end, they get homesick for their spots and return. And what will become of that long distance romance between Arizona and Mississippi? Only time will tell…

We also had time to explore a great website called U.S. Geography Puzzles and test our new-found knowledge of the states.

This was an abbreviated week in the Library because of parent conferences so some classes didn’t have library this week.

Those who did….

Kindergarten—Mrs. Campbell’s class heard a story to get us in the mood for next week’s famous Turkey Trot. In Cynthia Rylant’s, The Great Gracie Chase, a little dog who likes it quiet is disturbed by house painters and leads the entire town on a chase. Mark Teague’s wonderful illustrations really enhance the story.

First Grade—Miss Ishikawa’s class heard the story of The Wolf’s Chicken Stew by Keiko Kasza and were delighted to find out that while the wolf thought he was fattening up the chicken to make into his stew, instead he was feeding 100 little chicks who would eventually call him “Uncle Wolf.”

Second Grade—Mrs. Seeple’s class enjoyed Raising Dragons by Jane Nolan, and we call agreed that having a dragon of our own to take us on rides above the land would be the best thing yet. This gentle story of how a girl has to let her best friend go back to his own kind is sweetened at the end when she gets to take back a wagon full of dragon eggs to raise again.

Third Grade—(see first part of post)

Fourth Grade—no classes this week

Fifth Grade—After studying Native Americans in social studies, the fifth graders had a good appreciation for the legend I read them this week: Buffalo Dance: a Blackfoot Indian Legend by Nancy Van Laan. This retelling of a complex legend explains the mythical origin for the sacred buffalo dance of the Blackfoot people and is beautifully illustrated with pictographs of Blackfoot patterns and designs.

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At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold,
that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the
better. ~~Barack Obama (from a speech to the American Library Association June 25, 2005)

About Me

I graduated from UCLA in 1970 with a degree in Art History and then earned my California Teaching Credential from UCLA in 1972. After teaching 4th grade in the inner city for 2 years I moved to Santa Barbara and founded the Santa Barbara Center for Educational Therapy. In 1989, with a desire to return to the public schools, I was fortunate to be hired as a school librarian and I'm starting my 20th year at Cold Spring School.
I have always been a bookworm and love teaching so this is the perfect job for me!